Prequel
by greysky3
Summary: Pre-canon, pre-Angel Experiment. A little subject meets someone who changes her life-Dr. Jeb Batchelder. Can he show her what life is like outside of the lab?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Disclaimer for the whole story: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

**This is a prequel, pre-canon, for Angel Experiment.**

**Please read and review, thank you.**

* * *

"Hey, you! Up!" a voice said, poking her in the side. She woke up with a start and quivered, pulling her wings in. "Come on!" said the intern impatiently.

Trembling, she crawled out. She blinked hard, transitioning from the darkness of her sleep to the too-bright lights above. The man pushed her forward and she stumbled on.

Another intern was mopping the floor nearby. His greasy hair fell in front of his eyes and music blared out, though he had his ear buds in. He worked on the floor, sweeping away crimson blood from underneath the cage nearest to him. The cage held a boy that had boils that bled out day and night. The rivulets of dry caked blood contrasted with his pale skin. The boy shuddered as he slept, as if he knew he was dying.

She had watched too long and had slowed down. This earned her another shove from the intern. She walked on, knowing the routine by heart. First they would draw blood. Then they would do intelligence tests. They would follow with physical tests, more blood, and she would get to go back to her cage for a small meal.

They wound through complicated hallways, the girl rubbing her eyes once. They stopped in front of the test room. She was shoved in. Inside was a woman in a white coat, just like everyone else in the world. The girl sat down and the whitecoat placed a piece of paper on the table that separated the two.

"You have one minute," the whitecoat told her. The girl got to work on the test; this one was a simple one. She had to copy the drawings onto the matching spot with the letters. _One star, two crosses, a rectangle, triangle, rectangle, star, hexagon,_ she thought, writing quickly. She held the pencil fiercely, scratching out the shapes as best she could.

"Time," said the whitecoat. The girl leaned back into the hard plastic chair as if she were physically exhausted. The whitecoat bobbed her head as she wrote down things on a clipboard. The girl looked around, scanning the room anxiously.

The whitecoat set down her notes and roughly grabbed the girl's arm. She didn't complain, only averted her eyes as the needle was inserted. It burned for a second, and her eyes watered, but it was soon over. Daring now to look back, she saw a vial a bright red blood disappearing under the table. "You may go now," the whitecoat said nonchalantly.

The girl got up and walked over to the door. It opened, and instead of an intern, was a huge Eraser. Her eyes widened as he grabbed her arm, squeezing it and bruising it. You wouldn't have noticed anyway with all the other injuries. The girl had hollow cheeks and dark circles under her chocolate eyes. Her arms and legs were laden with bruises. Her hair was scruffy and longish, hanging, stringy, a dull dirty blond, down to her back. There was a cut under her eye and it had swollen, making her look like she was always on the verge of tears.

She was really about to cry as the Eraser pulled her arm painfully, parading her around. The other Erasers whistled and shouted things she didn't understand. "Can I borrow her for the night?" one called. The Eraser holding her snickered, but didn't answer. The girl sniffed as they passed that hallway that was particularly full of Erasers.

The next corridor was empty, and her arm was released. She rubbed it absently as they continued to zigzag through what she'd heard was named the School. The Eraser stopped in front of what was universally called the Gym.

The door was opened and the girl stepped in. A team of five whitecoats greeted her. One led her by the arm to the side, the other arm thankfully. They gave her a drink and she sucked it down. It tasted like dust and gum, something she'd only known from smelling what interns were chewing.

The mixture was thick and oozy. It stuck to her throat as she tried to drink it. She handed the empty cup to a waiting whitecoat and wiped her mouth on her hand. She'd gotten a fresh hospital gown two days ago, and wanted to make this luxury last. The last time she'd gotten a change of clothes before that went back months and months.

The girl looked up from her gown and saw they had built a maze. They wheeled around wooden panes in indentations in the floor of the Gym to make mazes. She walked over to the entrance, and a bell rang. She was pushed in and she ran on. She stopped only when she was confronted with swirling blades about thigh-high in the hallway.

Not waiting to see whether they would shock her, she backpedaled and took a sharp left, breathing hard. She took turns at random, hoping she wouldn't find a dead end. Her wishing was rewarded as she exited the maze.

She was handed some apple juice and drank it down. Word floated over to her: _stress… cognitive abilities… adrenaline. _The girl tried to force down the dull fear starting in the pit of her stomach.

She put down her now-empty cup and was led over to the maze entrance. She was shoved in and ran. She felt and shock and froze, twitching. It felt as if her very bones were on fire. Her eyes watered and she started running as soon as her muscles responded.

She felt the shock again, like lightning coursing through her. _She wasn't stopping! Why would they shock her? _She tried to move again and was jolted by another attack of pain.

She crumpled to the ground and tried dragging herself away, her lower half feeling paralyzed. She clawed at the floor desperately, trying to keep moving. Another shock seized her and she started jerking around. Her eyes rolled back and she couldn't feel the next jolt of electricity.

"Stop! STOP!" a voice thundered. The whitecoats looked up, Jones's finger just above the button that shocked the subject.

The man that had just walked in turned to the group of scientists, his eyes fiery. "What are you doing?"

"We're testing the effect of stress on her adrenaline levels," Jones explained. Sewell nodded.

"She can't run while unconscious! The voltage is much too high! What are you trying to prove, that electricity paralyzes you? That's already been proved, Jones!" the man screamed, his face getting red.

"Sorry, doctor," said Jones a little shakily.

"You're fired," he answered.

"What?"

"These are my avian-DNA experiments, and you're fired! OUT!"

Jones bowed his head and left the room. Another glare from the man sent Sewell and the others scurrying off too. The doctor slid the wooden panels as to make a path through the maze. In the middle of it, he found the girl.

She was sleeping, it seemed, if it weren't for the grotesque contortion of her limbs. He sighed and checked her pulse. She was alive. He shook her gently.

The girl woke up again and instantly withered away from the man's touch. He was balding, had square glasses, and an unmistakably friendly round face.

"Don't worry. I won't hurt you," said the man reassuringly. The girl frowned. He held out his hand and helped her up. He opened the door for her, and for once, the girl was walking around without someone to grip her arm.

They walked together into a room like the one the girl had been in that morning for the intelligence test. The man sat down on a plastic chair and she sat in front of him. She looked at him suspiciously. "Who are you?"

These were the first words she'd uttered all day. Looking back, she realized it might have been a whole week since she'd spoken. The man in front of her smiled. "My name is Dr. Jeb Batchelder. You can call me Jeb."


	2. Chapter 2

"Jeb," she said, trying out the word. The man, Jeb, smiled. She didn't smile back. He leaned forward on his chair, as if to tell her a secret.

"I've known you since you were a baby," he told her. She processed this.

"Are there cameras?" she asked. Jeb was taken aback. He'd forgotten how hard-wired the survival skills were in his experiments. He'd longed to get back on the project, and it had taken quite a bit of manipulating. He'd discovered they'd been treated wrong—his specially crafted warriors were scrawny and unhealthy.

"No," he told her slowly. She frowned at him. She wasn't stupid, and no one could convince her of that. It was one of the few things she had to herself.

"Since when do you know me?"

"Since before you were born. Nine years ago."

"I'm nine?" It was barely a question. The girl took a moment to memorize her age. She wanted to know the most she could about herself, so her identity could be hers, and no one could take it away.

"You're nine, and brilliant," Jeb told her.

"What's my name, then?" the girl countered, not wanting to let him take advantage of her.

"I don't know. You can pick." The girl thought for a second, then nodded, as a sign for Jeb to proceed. "You are extremely fast for your age. You can solve problems like a human teenager, have maximum strength for your muscle—"

"Maximum," the girl interrupted.

"What?"

"That's my name. Maximum."

"That's a wonderful name," Jeb chuckled.

"You can call me Max," she said, grinning for the first time in at least two years.

"Well, Max. The thing is, you're special. You can't be treated badly. I'm going to help you. You'll be taken to a special room with people like you."

Max nodded. "Shall we go?" Jeb asked her. She got up and took his hand. He led her out of the room. Max was surprised, he wasn't squeezing. The feeling was almost tender.

She had a feeling that things were changing. She couldn't help smiling when she passed the Erasers. They glared at the little winged girl, getting special treatment from the unit director.

She flashed her two missing front teeth at them and one growled menacingly. A sharp look from Dr. Batchelder made him look to his feet. They arrived in front of strange doors Max had never seen before.

Jeb waved a card he'd produced from his pocket in front of a black square of plastic, and they opened. Max's eyes popped out of her head. _How had he done that? _"How?" Max breathed as they walked in.

Jeb, not wanting to explain electricity and elevator mechanics, though he could build one from scratch, simply smiled and replied, "Magic." Max nodded, accepting this as a valid explanation.

She noticed they were in a small room. The doors closed and Max gripped Jeb's hand tighter. The floor started to lower and she gave a little scream. "Don't worry," Jeb told her, before she could start crying.

The doors opened again and they stepped out. This floor was identical to the one they'd just left: bright lights, sad interns, and white everything. Max took everything in with wide eyes, still clutching Jeb's hand. He led her to a room. They opened the door and inside were two boys.

"Who's that?" one demanded, looking at the wrong spot in the room though he was talking to Jeb. He had hair that looked like it had once been a soft orange, but had been bleached pale in the sun. It was impossible, since sun was only available once a year for tests outside.

"What's wrong with you?" Max demanded.

"I'm blind. So what!" he told her, sticking out his tongue. Max decided she liked him.

"Who's he?" she asked Jeb, pointing at the other boy. He had longish black hair that hid his matching eyes, and a permanently bored expression.

"His name is Fang," Jeb said.

"Y'know why?" said the first boy. "It's 'cause he bit everyone before coming here."

"That's Iggy," Jeb explained with a small chuckle.

"In Latin, that means fire," Iggy announced proudly.

"In Latin, _ignis _means fire," Jeb corrected. Iggy shrugged, and stuck out his hand. Max shook it, unaware that he was memorizing his touch, adding her to his repertoire. He could recognize people he'd met before by subtle clues: unusually soft skin, the click of high heels, the muted squeaking of sneakers, the swish of a ponytail, or the smell of a specific perfume or cologne.

"I'm Max," she told Iggy, letting go of his hand. Fang still hadn't said a word.

"Hi," Max tried. He didn't respond. "Why won't you talk?" Fang shrugged again. "What?"

There was no response, and Max shoved him. "Maximum," Jeb warned from behind her. Fang shoved back half-heartedly.

"Say something!" Max demanded.

"Fine!" he yelled. Max's expression softened.

"Oh," she said. She didn't say anything else. Fang crossed his arms and sat down on a chair. Looking around, Max saw this was a room different from anything she'd ever seen before.

The chairs had soft, plush material on them and there was a soft white carpet on the floor instead of cold tiles. Max dropped to the floor and felt the lush material. "Soft, isn't it?" said Iggy.

Max nodded. She'd never felt something so wonderful in her life. She lied down on her back, her blondish hair spread out around her. Fang suddenly appeared in her line of vision.

"It's great," Max told him, not bothering to get up. Fang kneeled down and Max sat up.

"How long have you been here?" Max asked. Fang shrugged in response.

"A month," Jeb answered Max's question. Max glared at Fang for not talking to her. He avoided her gaze.

"I think it's time for your tests," Jeb told them. He opened the door and the three kids filed out. Max noticed with satisfaction that Iggy had pale gray wings and Fang had black ones. They poked out of their hospital gowns, just like Max's.


	3. Chapter 3

Max looked suspiciously at the tube they were telling her to go into. She'd always hated small spaces, and her cage freaked her out. She was always scared the walls would collapse on her, or shrink and leave her trapped forever.

She looked back to Iggy and Fang. They didn't seem fazed by this sudden turn of events. The whitecoat prodded Max, her icy blue eyes flashing. "Come on!"

Max stepped in carefully. The inside was made of a sleek gray material, and had fans at the far end. Max shivered; it was cold inside. Fang and Iggy shuffled in. "You have to get to the other side for them to stop," he explained.

It seemed easy enough for Max, and she started walking towards the other end of the tube, not understanding the difficulty of this trial. There was a horrible roaring noise and the fans started to turn. Wind knocked her over and sent her tumbling along the ground, until she thumped painfully against the wall.

The air had been knocked out of her, and the force of the air held her pinned against the wall, not falling. "Use your wings!" Iggy shouted above the deafening noise. She saw him and Fang flapping desperately, trying to get to the other side.

Max kicked back, putting enough distance between her back and the wall so she could unfurl her wings. They spread out around her, tan and brown. She flapped powerfully against the strong winds, and started to move forward.

Fang had his hand against the end of the hallway, and Iggy was tailing him. Max beat her wings hard and got halfway through the tunnel. Iggy had gotten to the end and she tried to catch up to him.

In one last, desperate burst forward, Max reached the end of the tunnel. Trying to fight the winds and not be pushed backwards, Max touched the back wall. Everything stopped. They landed on the ground, flying down. Max was still shaky. She didn't know her wings _worked. _Of course, she knew she could move them, but never that they could let her _fly._

Max followed after Fang and Iggy and left the wind tube. Whitecoats escorted them to the next room. "How did you know I was behind?" Max asked Iggy.

"I heard you screaming. You scream like a girl," he chortled.

"I _am_ a girl," Max said sourly.

! #$%^&*

"Max? Are you listening to me?" Jeb asked. Maximum's eyes snapped back towards him.

"Uh-huh," she said distantly. Jeb sighed.

"Do you ever think of outside?" he asked her.

"What do you mean?" Max asked. She'd caught the glint in Jeb's eye.

"Do you ever want to go outside?"

"No. I don't like the yearly experiments."

"Yearly experiments?" Jeb asked. He was learning every day how they had been treated, and everything was just the opposite of what he'd planned.

"They make us go to the courtyard once a year, to be chased by Erasers. I hate that."

"But don't you wish you could go outside, further than the courtyard?" Jeb persisted. Max gave him a blank look.

"Further than the courtyard is the School," she stated, frowning.

"What's further than the School?"

"Nothing," Max said with certainty.

"There's a whole world out there," Jeb told her. Max's eyes widened exponentially.

"Impossible."

"Possible," Jeb countered, taking out a magazine. Max could read _National Geographic_ on the front. The cover featured a… a building. Max hadn't seen anything like it before. It was old and crumbly, and yellow. It was shaped like a huge triangle. _Pyramids_, the covers announced.

Tiny people were underneath it, peering up at the giant. Max's mouth dropped slightly as she flipped through the magazine, seeing things she hadn't ever thought were possible.

Looking up, the white room she was in seemed quite dull. "I want to leave," Max said.

"It's not that easy."

"Let me! Why won't you let me?"

"I will. Just be patient."

! #$%^&*

For the first time in her life, Max defied those who had been like gods to her, who did what they pleased because of their mystical authority. When she was being escorted to her new cage, the one on this new floor, she decided to try and leave.

She'd been living there a few weeks, though Max didn't know that. The drugs warped her perception of time. Her usual cage, next to Fang, had its door open. They opened it and prepared to shove her in. Max took a deep breath. "Let me leave."

"Why should I?" the intern sneered.

"Because, I asked you to."

"Ha. As if," said the pimply guy. She grabbed her by the back of her neck and prepared to throw her in her cage. She bit down on his hand hard. The guy howled and Max ran out of the room.

Exhilaration was coursing through her. She'd leave, and see the world! She remembered with a twinge of regret the magazine she'd left in the room, as well as her friends.

Max decided she'd get them out later. She turned another hall at random and came crashing into an Eraser. He growled at her and held her down. Max bit again, finding what Fang's enjoyment had been in doing this.

More Erasers came, and she was slammed against a wall. She slid down, shocks of pain coursing through her, as one kicked her in the stomach. She hugged herself helplessly, trying to avoid the pain.

Max was jerked up and carried by an Eraser. He marched her back to the room she slept in. She was thrown in the door, Iggy and Fang watching curiously. Another intern had replaced the one she'd bitten.

This time, she had violently yellow hair and a sour expression. She grabbed Max and slammed her against her open cage, not even pretending to try and get her in.

Max whimpered, as the intern slammed her again. She was about to be hurt a third time, when a voice spoke up. "Leave her ALONE!" Fang screamed, reaching out a skinny arm and pulling with all his might the necklace dangling from her neck.

The intern choked and yanked Fang's hand away. The necklace had left a thin, red mark. "You two lose the privilege of having your own cage," she said tensely.

She opened the door to Fang's cage and shoved Max in, a crumpled mess. She glared at the Erasers and the intern until they left. As soon as the door had closed, Max started sobbing.

"Here," Fang said, reaching into the next cage. He pulled out Max's precious magazine. He handed it to her. She gave him a watery smile and sat up straighter against the bars of the cage. It was too small, so their legs were side by side when they sat. Max had no idea how they would do to sleep.

"Sorry I got you punished, too. I shouldn't have bit her," said Max.

"Wow, you bite too?" Iggy asked. "Just like Fang." And idea occurred to him. "Max and Fang, sitting in a tree. K-i-s-s—"

There was a chorus of "Iggy!" and he stopped, flashing an impish grin in the entirely wrong direction. Max sat back, sighing. She flipped through her magazine. About twenty minutes later, Fang spoke.

"What's so special about that?" Max looked up, startled at sound of his voice. She didn't hear it often, but she liked it.

"It's the Outside. Jeb told me about it." Slowly, carefully, she managed to turn around so she was next to Fang. It was cramped, and their shoulders were squished together, but Max showed him her magazine.

"My favorite," she began. "Is Niagara Falls. Isn't it pretty? I wish I could go. When we escape…"

"Thought you'd have been discouraged by now," Iggy called.

"No! I'm as stubborn as I am pretty!"

"So, not at all." Iggy said, at the same time as Fang said:

"So you're really stubborn." There was a silence Max didn't really get. It was as if the boys were sorting something out. Iggy nodded and everything resumed.

"I will escape. Because I am Maximum!" Max shouted. The lights shut off, running her dramatic moment. That signaled time to sleep.

Turning around again, Max found it impossible to move in such a cramped space. She just set to moving forward so her shoulders had space, and leaning back on Fang's shoulder. They fell asleep quickly, though Max could be heard muttering in her sleep.

She was dreaming of the Outside.


	4. Chapter 4

"Tomorrow is our great escape," Max said for the nth time, announcing her plan to whoever would want to hear it. Iggy groaned and turned over in his cage, so she turned hopeful eyes towards Fang.

He was watching her, and listening, though he wasn't betraying his attention by saying something. Max continued anyway. "So, when they come in to get us, I attack the intern. Iggy, you hold off the backup, I'll make sure the intern keeps quiet. Fang, you open a window. I'll hold them off while Iggy jumps out. Then, I'll go out after him."

Iggy snorted. "Then we fall into the courtyard, get caught as usual, and get no food for two days. That was a brilliant escape plan last time, Max."

Max turned away so he wouldn't see the hurt on her face. "Stop," Fang said quietly. When he did speak, everyone listened. He usually sided with Max, since they shared a cage. Max wondered when they'd move her back to be by herself.

Not that she minded being with Fang; she just was always cramped. She was almost glad when they took her out of the cage, just so she could stretch out. All her joints cracked and popped every single time.

"Sorry," Iggy said. "But, if it didn't work this time, why now? Plus, they usually have an Eraser backing up the intern, or whitecoats guarding the hallways. The windows are locked most of the time, now."

"Yeah, but we can lull them into a false sense of security, and have them leave us with only one intern. When we see an open window, we seize our chance, go according to plan."

"Yeah, but what happens after we land in the courtyard?"

"Fly up?" Max said dubiously. She knew their wings weren't powerful enough for that long distance up.

"They're taping," Fang said quietly, pointing his finger at the ceiling. Iggy and Max went silent, and followed Fang's finger. In a corner, there was a white box with a glaring red light that flashed on and off.

Max let out a sigh and leaned back into the bars that perpetually dug into her back, shifting uncomfortably against Fang. "Hey," Iggy said.

His face was pointed towards the door. They knew he only looked in a certain direction when he was hearing something from there. Fang and Max snapped their gazes to the door, where the doorknob was slowly turning.

The door burst open, and a whitecoat appeared, gripping a girl by her arm. She looked young, and had mocha skin, accompanied by unruly dark brown hair. Her brown eyes were wide with fear. Max saw she was younger than her.

The girl was shoved into the cage next to Fang and Max. They were now sandwiched between the girl and Iggy. It was Max's old cage. Her hopes of getting it back disappeared into thin air. The whitecoat left without further explanation.

"What's your name?" Max asked. The girl whimpered, trying to back away but failing in such a small, enclosed space. "Can you talk? Because we've already got enough silent kids in here."

"Y-yeah," she said. Max beamed.

"Now, kid, how old are you?"

"Don't know."

"Name?" The kid shook her head.

"Can I call you New Kid?" Max asked.

"Sure," she stammered.

"That's a stupid name," Iggy said. The lights shut off abruptly.

"Night, Iggy," Max called. She'd gotten into the habit of doing this kind of roll call every night.

"Night."

"Night, Fang."

"Mm."

"Night, New Kid."

"Night, um…"

"Maximum. Call me Max."

! #$%^&*

"Oh? And who is this?" Jeb asked, raising his eyebrows at New Kid the next time they went to his office.

"New Kid," said Max, earning another snort from Iggy. All four kids sat in different pristine white chairs, as Jeb sat at the big table. New Kid had wings, Max had learned. They were reddish brown. New Kid had tried them for the first time that day, in the wind tunnel.

"That's an interesting name," Jeb said.

"It's a temporary one," Max explained. Jeb chuckled, but Max didn't understand why.

The door opened and Max didn't even look up. It was probably another whitecoat. It closed again, and Max closed her eyes briefly, enjoying the bliss of rest.

"Hi, Ari. This is Max," Jeb said in a soft voice. Max opened her eyes, and saw a toddler on Jeb's lap. He had spiky dark brown hair and intelligent eyes.

"He have wings?" New Kid asked.

"No," Jeb said. A somber look passed through all four faces of the bird kids, and for the first time they really felt united.

"Does he live in a cage?" Fang asked, voicing the question no one would say aloud.

"No. He's my son," Jeb said, and for a second Max thought she saw pain on his face. Resentment was heavy in the white room.

"You said I was your son," Iggy said, a tear threatening to spill out of one empty blue eyes.

"I'm really sorry, kids—" Jeb started, but was interrupted by the door opening. A whitecoat poked his head in.

"The psychology session is over." New Kid, Fang, Max, and Iggy got up and followed the whitecoat sullenly. Max sneaked one last look at the toddler, who was now giggling.

"Lucky," she muttered under her breath.

! #$%^&*

"How come Ari gets to be Jeb's son? Do you have to pass some sort of test to have a dad? Do you think I would pass?" New Kid asked anxiously.

"I don't know," said Max helplessly. Ari probably got to sleep in a bed, like she'd seen in her magazine. It had been taken away one day while she was away being tested, and Max missed it sorely.

"I think I failed the test," Iggy said miserably. They stopped in front of the door that led to the room that held their cages. The whitecoat busied himself with the lock. _More security measures_, Max thought miserably.

Opening the door, they all stepped in. Max noticed an anomaly immediately: one of the cages, the empty one next to Iggy's, had two little kids in them. They were both matching blond. The boy was a young, just a little older than Ari. The little girl was a baby. Max guessed she was about one.

Iggy was led into his usual cage. To Max's surprise, Fang went into his cage alone. Max went into her old cage, and New Kid was relocated to the cage on the far end, next to Max.

The whitecoat left after he was sure the cages were locked. The door slammed shut. "Aren't they too young for cages?" Iggy asked.

"Dunno. Ari certainly is," Max spat. "And the boy is older than him."

"It's not Ari's fault," Fang said. Max looked at him, enjoying the feeling of a little more space to herself.

"You're right," she admitted. Her anger was pointless; he was only a toddler after all. "Can I name them?" she asked no one in particular.

"Sure," Iggy said.

"Hm, let me see. The boy should be called Little Guy. And the girl Baby Girl," Max said.

"When do I get a real name?" New Kid asked.

"When you earn it," Max said confidently.

"I hope I do soon," the girl sighed.

! #$%^&*

"How old am I?" New Kid asked.

"Hm, let me see. It should be in my files," Jeb said, searching through the thick papers in the drawers underneath the white table. New Kid wrung her hands, standing awkwardly. "You're seven. The most magical number."

"Max, can my name be Seven?"

"No way, you can't change names every year," Max called back, not looking up.

"Can you name me?" New Kid asked hopefully, looking pleadingly at Jeb.

"I don't think so. I can't act without your leader's consent," he said, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

"Hear that, Iggy? I'm the leader," Max said proudly.

"Can I be second in command?" Iggy asked, suddenly regretting being obnoxious.

"Nope, I pick Fang," she said. Fang nodded. Max had never seen him smile. Maybe they experimented on him so he wasn't able to.

A buzzer sounded. The whitecoats had gotten tired of the psychology session with Jeb always being too long, so they installed an alarm system instead. "Off you go, kids," Jeb said.

They all lined up dutifully. They were wondering how Little Guy and Baby Girl were doing. For the week they'd been there, they hadn't left their cages. Little Guy mostly slept, or shushed Baby Girl when she cried. According to Jeb, she was his little sister.

Once back into their cages, Max settled back against her bars. She was feeling so much better in her own cage, after all the long weeks of cramming in with Fang.

New Kid nudged her. "Max, can my name be Cutie?"

"No."

A few seconds later, Max felt another nudge.

"Can my name be Annoying? Please, anything!"

"I said no."

Max sucked in an exasperated breath at the third nudge.

"Stop doing that!"

"What?"

"The nudges!"

"Can that be my name?"

"Fine! Your name is Nudge!"

Silence reigned after that for a while. Max had her back to Nudge, so she couldn't see the girl's smile. She watched Fang, looking at the jagged outline of his overgrown hair.

He was frowning, rubbing his arm where they'd done a biopsy. Raw flesh was underneath a flimsy bandage that kept falling off. By the way he was frowning, Max knew it must be hurting horribly. He never showed his pain unless it was really excruciating.

The lights shut off, bathing the cold room in darkness. Max rubbed her arms, shivering slightly.

"Night Iggy."

"Goodnight."

"Night Fang."

"…"

"Night Little Guy. Night Baby Girl. Night Nudge."

"Thanks, Max."


	5. Chapter 5

"You will follow me," the whitecoat said to Max. She looked helplessly at Fang. Iggy and Nudge had already gone into the experiment room. It was going to be a maze that day.

"Fang!" Max said urgently, as the whitecoat started to pull on her arm. He threw himself at the whitecoat, biting her arm. Max kicked her and tried to pull away.

"Backup!" the whitecoat gasped, trying to hold off the viciously attacking nine-year-olds. Instantly, Erasers appeared, jogging into the hallway. They pried Fang off and held Max back.

She choked back a sob as they slammed Fang against the wall. "No!" she pleaded. Blood trickled underneath Fang's hairline, and the Erasers shoved him into the testing room.

"I'm sorry," Fang said, and the door slammed. Max was still sobbing freely as the two Erasers squeezed her bruised arms. Cold tears fell on the cold, tiled floor and washed away streaks of grime from her bare feet.

They marched her into another room. Max recognized it with horror. It was every subject's nightmare: the surgery room. "No! Please! I'm sorry!" Max choked out. The Erasers showed no emotion as they forced her in the door, locking it behind her.

Five whitecoats appeared. Max tried to wriggle loose, but she was severely outmatched. They forced her onto a cold operating table, lit from underneath. The straps pushed her limbs down and trapped them.

Max's struggling was now pointless. The hard plastic bit into her flesh where it held her pinned down. She screamed for help, for Fang, for Jeb even. One whitecoat came over and calmly placed a gag over her mouth.

They appeared with a tray of scalpels. She struggled wildly now, barely shaking her body. They lifted her thin, hospital gown and bit into her stomach with a scalpel.

Max screamed bloody murder as they sliced in. It felt horrible, worse than all the pain in her life combined. She almost smelled her own blood flowing though she couldn't see it.

A plastic cup was placed over her nose, fitting her face comfortably. It smelled like sickly sweet strawberry, and her eyes rolled back into her head. Max was only glad to escape the pain.

! #$%^&*

_Headache_ was Max's first conscious thought. She opened her eyes, and her vision swam. She tried moving some fingers. They felt tingly, and she almost couldn't feel them moving. _Maybe they cut my hands off,_ Max thought vaguely.

She opened her eyes again, and her vision steadied a bit. The pain rushed at her. First was the searing, horrible pain of her stomach being on fire. She felt the long gash burn and a tear slid out of one eye. Max writhed in agony, wanting this pain to stop.

She noticed her hand had something prickly in it, something her body was trying to reject. She then felt the needle inside her hand, and the pull of medical tape on her skin, and recognized a shunt.

That explained the bag of bright, red blood hanging over her. Max winced at the thought of it, such a bright color, entering her body. A door opened, but she couldn't even turn her head to look. She had no choice but to stare upwards, in the direction her head was strapped.

She felt the restraints being snapped open. A little feeling rushed back to her hands. She could now move her head, and saw a pimply intern with a mop of red hair. He pulled her roughly into a seated position. Her entire body ached, and her bones felt like they were on fire.

The intern left. Max felt another headache coming on, and felt like she would faint. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath. The world stopped spinning out of control. She gingerly felt the gash on her stomach. The rough, bumpy stitches were pronounced under her delicate touch.

Max let herself slide off of the operating table. She smoothed down her hospital gown, this time switched for a new outfit comprising pants, and took a few hesitant steps towards the door. A whitecoat opened the door briskly. "Good, you're up," he told her.

Max followed him, still in pain and dazed. He led her through different hallways until they stopped in front of a very familiar door. He checked his clipboard. "You have a psychology session."

He opened the door, and Max stumbled into Jeb's office. All in a rush, she felt a pair of arms against her. Caught off guard, she almost fell, but held on to whoever was hugging her. She caught the black hair in the corner of her eye.

Fang let go abruptly. Max had never seen him show emotion like this before. "I'm sorry, Max. It's my fault."

"Don't worry. You didn't miss me that much for a night," she reassured.

"Four days, Max," he said somberly. Max looked at everyone else in the room. Iggy and Nudge looked intensely relieved. Jeb was walking towards her; his eyes alight with fury.

"Where were you?" he asked, anger showing through his usually calm voice. In response, Max lifted the hem of her shirt to show of the grotesque stitches. Nudge whimpered slightly, and Fang looked as angry as Jeb.

Jeb ran his hand over the wide cut. "What did they do?"

"Cut me up. I woke up this morning."

"Really?" Iggy asked in horror. Max realized he couldn't have understood what was going on until then.

"I'm going to have a talk with them," Jeb muttered half to himself. "I have to get you out of here."

Max sat down heavily on a chair, every part of her screaming in pain from the effort of that simple action. "It's impossible," she said, starting to lose faith in her own escape plans.


	6. Chapter 6

"They grafted a new kidney on you. They wanted to see if it worked better in your body," Jeb informed Max quietly. Her eyes were dead and stared straight ahead. The warm brown flecked with gold had turned a muddy dark brown.

Max looked around the room she had known for so long, searching for new hidden exits. She touched her cut softly. Her fingers had practically memorized the rough thread embedded in her skin, pulling at the edges of the gash.

It was the first time she'd been there alone since her first day on the lower floor. They had made her run for half an hour, ignoring her cries of pain as the wound was tugged open by her muscles contracting, and the stitches, stubbornly holding the flesh in place, cut deep into her, leaving the whole area red and bleeding. Jeb had arrived just in time to see her about to faint, clutching her stomach and dripping blood. She was about to be shocked again for not running as fast as usual.

Jeb caught the sudden distance from Max. He sighed. Just when she had begun to trust him, there had been an experiment that hadn't approved, and he was back to where he'd started, with no trust.

Max was now the leader of the ragtag band of avian experiments. If they found out Max didn't trust him, they'd put their distance between themselves and him. Jeb would lose his most treasured warriors. He sighed even more deeply, wondering how he would train them and make them accept their fate.

"You don't trust me," Jeb stated. Max's eyes flickered up to his face, but she said nothing, her mouth forming a taut thin line.

"I understand that," he continued. "But I just want to help."

"Really?" Max asked.

"What do you want most," he said, "other than leaving?" He added the last bit at the eager expression that had formed on Max's face.

"Magazines," Max told him. Jeb pulled out another _National Geographic_. It featured Machu Picchu on the cover. Max took it hungrily and started flipping through the pages. "Will we go there?" she asked, still hidden behind the colorful pages.

"If you want," Jeb offered.

"When?"

"Soon. Be patient, Maximum."

! #$%^&*

The next time the whitecoats came to get Max, Iggy and Fang walk forwards menacingly, reading to protect Max. The whitecoat was not amused. A sour expression was on his face.

"I'm only removing the stitches. Any other procedures or prohibited by Dr. Batchelder," he said, his voice taking a bitter turn at the mention of Jeb's name.

Max gave a terrified squeak, but six Erasers were already rounding the corner. With one last look at Max, the two boys filed into the room with their cages. Max knew by know the way to the surgery room. She only hoped she wouldn't be awake this time. She felt tired: the stitches on her stomach ached, her head throbbed, and her bones felt weak. When they strapped her to the table, she was glad to have a good night's sleep, not cooped up in a cage.

The straps fell heavily on her, trapping her limbs. They approached with the sweet-smelling mask again and Max felt herself drift off. When she woke up, she had a thick bandage winding around her middle. Lifting it slightly, she saw the heavy stitches were gone. Instead was a pinkish scar, which was already closing.

She realized she wasn't strapped down anymore. A whitecoat entered the room, took her temperature, looked into her eyes and ears, and finally told her to go. Max got up uncertainly. Her wound stung, but it was a lot better than when she still had the stitches.

The door opened and an Eraser appeared. He grabbed her roughly and steered her out. Once outside of the whitecoat's earshot, the Eraser turned to Max, a big grin on his face.

"You're Jeb's experiment, aren't you? The special ones," he taunted then snorted. "Well, they need more of us. They say they want to splice us after we're born. They're thinking they'll use one of you birdies."

A horrible laugh escaped the Eraser. Max stumbled along, forcing her lips closed, as the Eraser shoved her along the hallways leading back to the cage room. "Be careful, birdie," the Eraser growled.

With a rough, hairy paw, he opened the door and pushed her in. Three grim faces looked back at her. Iggy was glaring at the wall, Fang's dark eyes were smoldering, and Nudge gave a terrified squeak.

Little Guy and Baby Girl were sleeping, missing most of the situation. The Eraser stepped in, and unlocked Max's cage. She crawled in before he could hurt her. The Eraser growled, exposing his yellowed teeth. He latched the door closed and left the room heavily.

"Max!" Nudge wailed. Max snapped around to see Nudge's arm roughly bandaged.

"What happened?" Max asked.

"They broke her arm," Fang said somberly,

"WHAT?"

"They just snapped it, there, in front of us," Iggy said, shaking his head. Max was now shaking in anger.

"Who did it?"

"It was the whitecoat with the yellow hair. It was her idea, too. She wanted to see how fast Nudge would heal," Iggy said.

"I'll get back at her. No one messes with us," Max declared.

It was at least a week until they saw the yellow-haired whitecoat again. Nudge's arm was getting more painful everyday, since no one was treating it. She tried to put on a brave face, but Max saw her wincing when Nudge thought no one could see. Max had spent her time dreaming up torture devices for her until she found a stable plan. Iggy's favorite was slowly lowering her into a fire while a bomb was strapped to her stomach.

Sweet Nudge didn't think this was morbid at all, joining in at times to add peeling off all her skin and ripping out her teeth and nails. When they finally saw her, one week after Nudge's break, Max gave the signal.

She tapped the back of Iggy's hand and shuffled over to Fang. "Macaroni," she whispered. Fang nodded. It was Nudge's idea to use a codeword. Incidentally, she also made up the codeword.

Max shot a furtive glance at the whitecoat with the yellow hair. She'd read her nametag and learned the whitecoat was called Dr. Joss. Max strode up to Nudge next. "Macaroni."

Nudge nodded and smiled widely, glad her codeword was of any use. Max glared at her and Nudge turned her face serious again. Dr. Joss was walking ahead, paying no attention to them whatsoever.

"Macaroni…" she said. "Macaroni, macaroni, macaroni, and CHEESE!" The last part of the codeword rang out through the hallway.

"What was that?" Dr. Joss stopped sharply, facing the four bird kids. Her penciled eyebrows clashed horribly with her neon-yellow hair. All four of them shook their heads and mumbled excuses.

Dr. Joss turned swiftly around. The four of them shuffled after her. Max was glad Dr. Joss wasn't looking at them, because she couldn't keep the smile off her face. She knew Nudge was slowly counting to twenty.

Right on cue, Nudge stumbled and fell. Max found it very realistic. Nudge clutched at her injured arm and moaned. The clicking of Dr. Joss's heels stopped suddenly. She turned around slowly, to see Nudge still on the floor.

"Get up!" Dr. Joss commanded. Nudge stirred but seemingly fell back down. Max was so proud, her chest was swelling, but she couldn't show it. She molded her face into an expression of worry.

Sighing, Dr. Joss kneeled down next to Nudge. Max scratched her right ear. She knew Fang was looking closely at her, waiting to see what ear she would scratch. Tapping Iggy on the back of his hand, Fang walked silently behind Dr. Joss, who was checking Nudge's pulse.

One good punch to the back of the head was all it took to knock her out. "Good job, Nudge!" Max exclaimed. Nudge bounced up, grinning.

"I was good, right? Did you see how I tried to get up and fell back down?" she jabbered excitedly. "And she bought it! Did you see that!"

"I did," Max said, smiling. "But let's be quiet now."

Fang and Iggy were already dragging Dr. Joss over to the nearest storage closet. Fang pulled some keys out of the pocket in her white lab coat. Max watched as Iggy took the keys, felt the lock, and immediately inserted the right one.

The door opened and inside was a small room filled with mops, brooms, and buckets of chlorine. Fang shoved her in unceremoniously. He grabbed her arm at the elbow in one hand, and at the wrist in the other, and snapped her arm with a horrible sound.

Iggy closed the door and took the keys. He took out a string from under his shirt. Max had never noticed it before. She was jealous; she wore nothing but her hospital gown.

He put the key ring on the string. Max caught a glimpse of a ring before the string disappeared under the dull green material. Iggy nodded, and they all continued walking, as if still chaperoned by Dr. Joss.

They opened the door to the Gym, and no one asked any questions.

! #$%^&*

The whitecoat unlocked the door to their cages. They'd begun to call this room the Dormitory. It was a fancy word for something like a room full of dog crates, but it made them all feel better to sleep there.

They felt even better that day, knowing Dr. Joss was locked up in a closet somewhere. They wondered when she'd be found, or if she had been already. Max checked on Little Guy and Baby Girl as she routinely did to make sure they were still breathing.

Little Guy opened his eyes when Max stuck her skinny hand into his cage. "Mac," he said in his little voice.

"What?" Max asked, puzzled.

"Mac."

"I think he's trying to say your name," Nudge called. Max's eyes widened.

"No, not Mac. Max," she told the toddler. Little Guy giggled, his blue eyes seeming to sparkle.

"Mac. Mac. Ma-ac," he babbled. Max sighed and went over to her cage. The whitecoat closed the door to the Dormitory and she settled into her cage.

She felt something poking her. She pulled something square and plastic from under her. Holding it up to her light, she saw it was a nametag. It read "Dr. A. Joss."

She handed it wordlessly to Fang. "They put Dr. Joss's nametag in my cage," she told Iggy.

"What does that mean?"

"It's a warning," Fang said gravely.


	7. Chapter 7

That morning, the intern unlocked Little Guy's cage and took him out. Baby Girl remained in her cage, sleeping peacefully. Fang and Max shot the intern a strange glance. Maybe he was new, and didn't know what he was doing.

Little Guy stumbled along as they wound through hallways, going in zigzags and off route. Max looked down at him until she finally scooped him up and held him as they walked. She marveled at how he too had a hospital gown. She'd never seen anyone so young as far as she could remember.

Max dropped Little Guy gently on the floor in front of the door to the Gym. She looked down and almost fell in surprise. The floor had a sunken chamber filled with water in it. It was huge and shimmering light blue. "Iggy! The floor has water in it!"

"That's called a pool. Jeb told me," said Iggy apprehensively. A whitecoat stepped in briskly and Max turned around to look. She almost fainted at the sight of neon-yellow hair. Dr. Joss was back.

She poked Fang hard in the back. He stopped looking at the pool and turned to see Dr. Joss. His mouth gaped open in horror. Max couldn't see any change in her since the last time she'd been conscious. Her hair was still pin-straight, and no bruises or bandages were in sight.

In a day, her broken arm had healed. She handled the clipboard normally. Dr. Joss caught Max staring. "Yes, science is very advanced nowadays, isn't it?"

Max was at a loss for words. The others were too, as no sound was heard, not even from Nudge who usually liked to say things. Little Guy was crawling benignly around their legs. Dr. Joss nodded triumphantly.

"Get into the pool. All of you," she commanded. They all moved forward, and Max picked up Little Guy. A horrible thought occurred to her.

"He's too young! He can't!" Max protested.

"IN!" Dr. Joss all but shouted. Max hurried in, holding Little Guy high above the water. It made her draw breath at how cold it was. She lowered the toddler into the water and he gurgled, trying to move his arms and legs.

Max let go and he immediately started sinking and coughing. She held him up again hastily. How on Earth could she swim with Little Guy?

"Guys!" she called. They walked towards her, Nudge hugging herself. Their hospital gowns were all sopping wet and weighed them down. Iggy was frowning, rubbing a sightless eye.

"Little Guy can't swim," said Max. "We'll have to take turns carrying him." They all nodded. Max glanced back at Dr. Joss. She was scribbling on her clipboard.

The whitecoat looked up. "GO!" she screamed. Max tried dipping herself into the water while holding Little Guy up. She settled for swimming with one arm and her legs while holding the toddler in the water, but floating.

Fang, Iggy, and Nudge, not burdened by anyone, were already half a length in front of her. Max struggled to beat her legs fast. Her wings were becoming heavy and weighing her down. She was sure she was losing some feathers.

She decided to beat her wings for extra propulsion. As she tried, Max used both hands to hold up Little Guy. He had started to cough, and his blond hair was sticking to his head.

Max practically flew to the other side of the pool, where Nudge was. She handed him over and Nudge tried another tactic. She placed Little Guy on her back and swam as steadily as she could, the toddler riding on her back like riding a horse.

Max watched Little Guy carefully, ready for any signs of him being unwell. He was coughing a little, but quickly recovering. Max pulled forward with her arms, and as she looked up she saw Little Guy falling from Nudge's back in slow motion.

Max didn't know what to do: help Nudge, who was convulsing, or get the toddler? She hesitated a split second and screamed for Fang and Iggy.

Diving down into the water, Max opened her eyes painfully into the chlorine-filled pool water. She saw the thrashing toddler a little lower and dived for him desperately.

Her hands closed on Little Guy and she swam up. The toddler coughed and spit out water. Immense relief flooded through her. She set him on the edge of the pool, and looking out into the Gym realized Dr. Joss was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's-?" she started to ask, but turned to Nudge, who was also being pulled out of the pool by the two boys. She got out of the pool, her feathers surprisingly impervious to the water.

Max shivered as fat drops of water rolled off of her and tried wringing the hem of her hospital gown to dry it. She picked up Little Guy, who was regaining some color and breathing normally now, she rushed over to Nudge.

She lay on her back, her wings spread out underneath her, one leg slightly bent, her eyes closed. It was a horrible sight, seeing her on the ground, so broken, and Max let out a tear.

"Is she?" Max asked. It was all she dared ask.

"Shocked her," Fang said.

Nudge coughed a little, and a trickle of water escaped her mouth. Max felt hope fill her again. Nudge opened one eye, and her other lid fluttered.

"M'okay," Nudge said feebly. Max picked her up and hugged her fiercely, tears falling freely now. She'd been so scared, that the whitecoats and the experiments barely compared.

Max didn't know that somewhere in a little, dark room they were looking at tapes of their swimming experience, making notes of how they felt compassion and helped one another.

"Ow," Nudge muttered. Max let go, wiping at her eyes.

"Let's go," said Max, getting up and helping Nudge up. Nudge seemed to be recovering, though shaking, she could stand.

"Where?"Iggy asked.

"Dunno. Let's explore."

! #$%^&*

"What is this place?" Nudge asked.

"No idea," Max answered.

"Coffee!" Nudge exclaimed gleefully! She ran over to the big machine labeled "coffee."

"What the heck is this?" Nudge asked.

"Try it," Iggy offered. Nudge pressed a button and thick dark liquid starting pouring into a grate. She hastily picked up a cup and started filling it with the dark liquid.

Nudge put the cup to her lips and spit it out onto the soft, carpeted floor.

"Okay," Max said, taking the cup from Nudge and throwing it in the trash. She hoisted up Little Guy, who she was carrying.

"Coffee?" he asked.

"Nope," Max said. She moved over to another machine, that was labeled "hot chocolate."

She pressed the button and poured herself a cup. She brought it to her lips and drank it down in one gulp. It was scalding and hurt her tongue, but was the most delicious thing she'd ever tasted.

"This is heaven," Max said, and started pouring everyone cups. She passed one to Nudge, Iggy, and Fang, and even gave a little to Little Guy in tiny spoonfuls thanks to the disposable silverware.

"This lounge place is great," Iggy said, as she felt his way towards an armchair.

"Yeah," Fang said, looking happy for once. Max had a great idea. What if they took the day off?

! #$%^&*

Jeb walked quickly and quietly towards the lounge. He needed coffee. After staying up until three in the morning cross-checking data, and worrying about his avian experiments who had gone missing, he needed to get some caffeine.

His jaw dropped when he opened the door and there were the bird kids, and the little male, all sprawled out on armchairs and sipping hot chocolate.

"Geb!" Little Guy squealed, and he ran over to hug Jeb's leg.

"He knows you?" Max asked suspiciously. None of them seemed surprised at Jeb's sudden appearance.

"I—I give him speech lessons when you guys are away… What are you doing here? Why are you wet?" Jeb asked.

"Dr. Joss tried to drown us," Nudge piped up.

"Dr. Joss? I don't know any Dr. Joss," said Jeb. Comprehension dawned on his face. "Oh, but maybe… Follow me, kids."

They all got up obediently, and followed Jeb through a series of hallways. None of them had gone this way before. They stopped in front of a dark blue door. Jeb swiped his key card and the door opened. The inside of the room was too dark to make out anything, but Jeb ushered them in, Little Guy still clinging to him.

The lights flashed on and Max stifled a cry of horror. What looked like people hung in rows from the ceiling. Max realized they must be robots, since they were connected to outlets.

She also noticed they were all identical. She blinked once. It took her a moment to recognize the sharp features, blue eyes and neon yellow hair of Dr. Joss.


	8. Chapter 8

Dinner was gulped down quickly that night. It was the usual: small, tasteless pellets washed down with water. The food pellets were dry and crunchy, but satisfied the bird kids and kept them alive. They were always very skinny.

A "Dr. Joss" had fed them their meal, and one had taken the empty bowls away. None of the bird kids even knew if they were two different androids or not. They had dubbed the machines "Joss-bots."

Max spread her wings a little behind her back and folded them over the body, hoping it would be more comfortable in their cage. When the light shut off she assumed it would be a normal night, and closed her eyes quickly.

"MAC! MAC!"

The toddler was screaming bloody murder, and all the experiments woke up immediately. "MAC!" wailed Little Guy.

"Hey!" Max shouted, rattling the bars and throwing herself against them. Someone was shuffling in the darkness, presumably holding the winged toddler. She heard a flapping sound that was probably his little chicken-like wings.

"JEB!" Max shouted, at the top of her lungs.

"Shut up!" said the voice of a Joss-bot.

The others took Max's cue. "JEB! JEB!" they all started screaming. Max figured they were bound to attract attention.

The Joss-bot left hurriedly, taking Little Guy with her. Jeb rushed in a minute later, and turned on the overhead lights. They all squinted in the bright light. Baby Girl began to wail.

"What's wrong?" Jeb asked.

"They took little guy!" Iggy said.

"Who did?"

"One of those robots," Nudge piped up. Jeb ran out again. They were left in the light, the open door giving them a glimpse of the dimly-lit hallway. They exchanged a glance. Baby Girl hiccuped and stopped crying.

She had grown. She was no longer a little baby. She was almost one, Max realized. That would make Little Guy three, and she would be about ten.

But she'd worry about her age when Little Guy returned unharmed.

"Why's everyone moving around?" Iggy asked.

"Well, it's night, and Jeb left the lights on," Max explained.

An uneasy silence settled over them. Max shifted in her dog crate and turned to Fang. She tried to read his eyes, but they were unyielding. Max sighed.

"Listen," said Iggy. They all stilled. Footsteps were coming.

Jeb appeared, smoothing his mustache. He placed Little Guy on the ground, and started unlocking the cages. He handed Baby Girl to Nudge, and held Iggy's hand while he hopped down. Fang crawled out at the same time as Max.

Silently, he led them all to his office. They were all terrified. Even the two previously loudest of the group, Nudge and Baby Girl, didn't make a sound. Jeb flashed a key card in front of the lock, and his office greeted them with a little beeping noise.

Jeb locked them door and pulled down the blinds on the little window he had next to the door.

"The cameras are off," Jeb announced. They all looked at each other incredulously. Jeb had a hard, fierce look in his eyes.

"This is very important," he continued. "Little Guy was going to be retired. You have to get out of here, now.

"Of course, I'll help. But you can't stay if you all want to survive."

Max couldn't believe her ears. Leave? She remembered Jeb asking her a long time ago whether she wanted to leave the School. She didn't know back then. But now she understood. Max was the first to snap out of it.

"I'll make it happen," she said. Jeb nodded, a trace of something like pride in his face.

"Here are maps. You will memorize them before you can go to sleep again," Jeb said, handing out pieces of paper. Iggy took his dubiously until he felt the raised pattern on the map. He smiled for the first time in a very long time.

! #$%^&*

One week later was d-day, whatever that meant. Max gulped as she went to bed. She knew the drill. THEY MUST NOT FALL ASLEEP. Jeb had stressed this point.

The cameras would be on until the signal. They must pretend to sleep.

Max waited an hour thinking. She thought of the places they would visit, all she would eat. Max would have a perfect life. She started to pinch herself after another half hour to keep herself awake. She still had a lot longer to go.

At precisely 4:15 am, after all the interns ended the latest night shift, there was the signal. It was a small beep and a flash of red in the darkness. It was the camera in the corner shutting off. They had ten minutes to leave the floor. Max knocked on the bars of her cage.

Two knocks. Fang checking in. Three knocks; Iggy. There was a slight silence and Nudge knocked four times. Max let out the breath she was holding in. Iggy pulled put the string he kept around his neck, which held the master key to their cages since yesterday.

He unlocked himself and let out Max next. While Iggy unlocked the others, Max checked on the two youngest ones. They were sleeping peacefully, drugged by Jeb himself. They couldn't take any chances.

She handed Little Guy to Fang for him to carry, and picked up Baby Girl's limp form. "Done," Iggy whispered.

They had little time now. Jeb said he would raise the alarm after ten minutes, so they had to be fast. Max estimated they had wasted about half their time. They opened the door and walked into the hallway.

Max yanked the cover off of the air duct. There was a ventilation chamber in there, then tunnels. She ushered Iggy in, then Fang. She handed Baby Girl to Nudge. A noise. Max heard steps. She shoved Nudge, who was trying not to drop the baby.

Max jumped in after her and put the grate cover back on just in time to hear someone walk into the hallway. A horrible screeching noise filled her ears. That must be the alarm. She heard Jeb talking to the stranger, but their speech was drowned out by the alarm.

Max forced herself on. "Let's go," she said, ready to escape at all costs.


End file.
